At age 22, Jonny Lang has already had a career many musicians only dream about. His 1997 debut album jumped to the top of Billboard's New Artist chart; he's toured with some of the biggest names in rock and blues; made a cameo appearance in the feature film Blues Brothers 2000; won Guitar magazine's Best New Guitarist poll; and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Now, Jonny Lang has released his first studio album in five years, Long Time Coming.
Jonny Lang has been compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King. Indeed, Lang claims these and other guitar veterans as major influences, but there's another side to his music that makes Long Time Coming his most personal album yet - songwriting.
So, why the long wait between albums? Lang says, "Of course the title Long Time Coming is about how long it's been since I've had an album out, but it's pretty much about trying to be patient. I call it a journal of my life for the past two years."
Jonny Lang was only 12 when he joined the Bad Medicine Blues Band in his native Fargo, North Dakota. When he became the band's leader, he changed its name to Kid Lang and the Big Bang, and moved the group to Minneapolis, Minnesota. A self-produced CD called Smokin' led to a deal with A&M Records and Lang's major label debut, Lie To Me.
Jonny Lang admits that his new album is more rock than blues, saying "In my mind I'm not a blues singer and I'm not a blues writer either." He co-wrote all but one of the 14 songs, including the title track.
Jonny Lang's Long Time Coming recently debuted in the Top 20 on Billboard's Albums chart. In support of his new release, Lang is currently on a two-month tour in more than 20 cities across America.
